Country | United States |
---|---|
Language | English |
Publisher | Oxford University Press for the American Council of Learned Societies |
Published |
|
Media type | Print, Digital |
No. of books | 26 |
Preceded by | Dictionary of American Biography |
Website |
www |
The American National Biography (ANB) is a 24-volume biographical encyclopedia set that contains about 17,400 entries [1] and 20 million words, [2] first published in 1999 by Oxford University Press under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies.
A 400-entry supplement appeared in 2002. [3] Additional funding came from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. [4]
The ANB bills itself as the successor of the Dictionary of American Biography, which was first published between 1926 and 1937. It is not, however, a strict superset of this older publication; the selection of topics was made anew. [5]
It is commonly available in the reference sections of United States libraries, [6] [7] and is available online by subscription (see external links).
In 1999, the American Library Association awarded the American National Biography its Dartmouth Medal [8] as a reference work of outstanding quality and significance. The American Historical Association's Waldo G. Leland Prize was awarded for 2001. [9]
It has been criticized for missing cross references and occasional errors, [10] and for its cost, which is said to limit availability in poor countries. [11]
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OCLC
39182280.{{
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LCCN
201001260 201-1260;
ISBN
978-0-231-15085-9;
OCLC
1193553990 (all editions).{{
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ISBN
978-0-4957-9964-1;
OCLC
760860482 (all editions).